Aruba is not the type of place that we are drawn to and I am sure many of our friends and family are wondering why we decided to go to a Caribbean island like Aruba. We are not cruise people OR fancy hotel people like most of the people that visit here. We had 3…
Medellin, Colombia
Medellin was the most dangerous city in the world not too long ago. The thought of tourists coming to visit would have been unthinkable in the 90’s. Now it is a popular place on the South American tourist route for European and American travelers. It is also becoming a favorite spot for digital nomads because…
Minca, Colombia
Sometimes we need a break from being tourist in big cities and we planned 5 days in the small town of Minca, which is quite the contrast from our stays in Bogota, Cartagena and Medellin. Minca is a small hippy town in the jungle hills above Santa Marta. There are many hostels filled with European…
Cartagena, Colombia
We were a little overwhelmed by the big city of Bogota… but not Cartagena. It is more our style. It is still a big city with a lot of high rise apartments and hotels along the beaches but we stayed mostly in the old walled city. It is an active neighborhood called Getsemani with waves…
Bogota, Colombia
We made it to Colombia! Our first week is in the capitol city of Bogota which sits at at 8500ft elevation. We had been around 5000 feet for most of our Guatemala adventures, but this new elevation still takes a bit of getting used to walking up the hills. We stayed at a $50 per…
Costa Rica vs Guatemala
In late 2023, we spent 6 weeks in Costa Rica and were torn between enjoying the beautiful nature of the country while dealing with the downsides of traveling in the country. I wrote this post about how while it can be challenging to travel in Costa Rica, the benefits far outweigh the negatives and it…
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Our next stop in Guatemala was Lake Atitlan. It is a lake at 5000 feet surrounded by several volcanos. We stayed at the town of San Pedro La Laguna which is a 3 hour drive from Antigua on a really curvy road that gets as high as 10,000 feet. The lake has several little towns…
50 years ago in Guatemala
In 1974, my mom took me (5 yrs old) and my brother (3 yrs old) on the Amtrak train from Tacoma, Washington to Los Angeles and dropped us off at our grandparents house in Van Nuys, California to spend a couple of weeks at Easter. I remember spending the long train ride playing on the…
Antigua, Guatemala
Antigua is one of the star attractions in Guatemala. It was the original capital and the major city in Guatemala in the 1500’s to 1700’s. It is located at 5000 ft elevation and is near several volcanos. In the 1700’s the continued eruptions and earthquakes destroyed most of the buildings so they moved the capital…
Guatemala!
After 3 weeks of enjoying the holidays with friends and family we are on the road again. It is great to see everyone but 3 weeks was just enough of 39 degrees and rain so we are now back in Central America. Guatemala is a new country for us and we are excited to compare…
Costa Rica isn’t easy but…
you need to go! Costa Rica is “less than easy” to visit for an extended stay when you are on a budget. It is not cheap or convenient to get around, especially without a rental car. There are several challenges, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you should visit it. The spectacular nature of…
Quepos and Manuel Antonio NP
Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the top attractions in Costa Rica and we couldn’t leave it out of our trip. It is is the smallest Costa Rican National Park but it also the most popular with more than 150,000 visitors annually. It has some beautiful beaches combined with a lot of easily seen…
Montezuma, Costa Rica
We have company again! My brother Gerrit and wife Sarah were able to plan a Costa Rica trip the same time we were here and stayed with us in Montezuma for a few days. It was fantastic to have someone else to talk to for a while and G and S are very compatible travel…
Playa Del Coco and Samara
Part of our plan to slow down while traveling; and to do that we are trying to take some time once in a while in some destinations where there isn’t much to do. Traveling in cities can sometimes be hectic when it feels like we need to navigate a metro system every day to see…
European Snowbirds?
We are currently in Costa Rica in an Airbnb in a condo development that is filled with North Americans. Some are only here for a week or so but most are staying the whole winter. We have seen this many times now… it is usually 25-75 units surrounding a pool which becomes the meeting place…